Animated Film Karouma and Short Film Lollipop to Take Part in Medfest

Animated Film Karouma and Short Film Lollipop to Take Part in Medfest

Animated film Karouma by director Boubaker Boukhari and short film Lollipop by director Hanaa Saleh Alfassi, both of which are distributed by MAD Solutions, will take part in the 2nd edition of Medfest (April 20 - 22), which aims to discover a common ground between medicine and films by screening films that are centered on medicine as well as psychological and physical health.

Held under the theme of "About Her" to focus on women's health, Medfest aims to discuss films dealing with health issues that directly affect women, such as puberty, pregnancy, childbirth, postnatal depression, motherhood, female genital mutilation, breast cancer, violence, discrimination against women and its psychological impact, among others.

The screenings will be held at Cinema Karim, downtown Cairo, then move to Alexandria and then to several governorates of Upper Egypt and the Delta. This year's forum aims to increase the public's awareness of some of the health and mental problems facing society.

About Karouma:

The film follows Karouma, the unique gifted boy who is striving to break through and to leave his parents' nest to pursue his dreams and live his life in its full potential.

Algerian director Boubaker Boukhari's Emirati animation film Karouma toured more than 70 of the world's film festivals in less than eight months, reaping awards including; the Best Animation Film Award at the New York International Short Film Festival, the Pennine Film Festival in the UK; the Comme Il Faut International Film Festival; the 4th Kraljevski Film Festival in Serbia; and the FILMMATIC Filmmaker Awards in USA; in addition to the Silver Remi Award at the 49th Annual International Independent Film Festival (Worldfest-Houston); an Animation Honorable Mention at the FARCUME International Festival of Short Film Faro in Portugal; and the Best International Expat Short award at the Korea International Expat Film Festival.

About Lollipop

A 14-year-old Muslim girl experiences the onset of puberty, meaning she must begin wearing a full black niqab. When her tormentor at school swipes her jacket, a case of mistaken identity exposes the perversity of the bully's father. The film's world premiere was held at the 14th Dubai International Film Festival within the Short Muhr competition.

Lollipop is directed by Hanaa Saleh Alfassi and stars Malak Radwan, Ayman Samman, Sarah Alhazmi. It is also produced by Hanaa Saleh Alfassi, Shannon Emigh, Co-founder of Axe Pictures (USA), alongside Alex Lampsos and Malika Frikouk, Executive Producer and Co-founder of the Moroccan branch of the company. The film was partly funded by Enjaaz, Dubai Film Market's production support programme, and is distributed within the Arab world by MAD Solutions.